Staples Advantage Brings Easy to Business-to-Business E-Commerce with New Website

Staples Advantage Brings Easy to Business-to-Business E-Commerce with New Website08:00 EST Wednesday, November 16, 2011
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (Business Wire) -- Staples
Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, Inc., today
announced the launch of its new e-commerce site to enable businesses to
consolidate suppliers and achieve savings. Through the new
business-to-business site, customers have a faster and more intuitive
e-commerce experience with access to the industry's most comprehensive
source of office solutions. The site offers numerous tools and reports
designed to help organizations manage best-in-class procurement programs
for a complete business solution.
“Businesses are asking for a partner that makes it easy for them to
purchase the everyday supplies and strategic services they need to run
their business cost effectively,” said Laura Brooks, vice president of
business-to-business e-commerce for Staples. “We're driven by the voice
of our customers and use it to create innovative solutions that deliver
satisfaction. The new site offers customers the ease of a consumer site
with the power of a complete procurement program that provides
sophisticated solutions for companies of 20 plus employees to Fortune
1,000 enterprise businesses.”
New Features and Enhanced Usability
According to a commissioned study, “Organizing for eBusiness at
Staples,” conducted by Forrester Consulting in December 2010 on behalf
of Staples, “Businesses must focus on understanding the customers as
never before. They must serve the customer within and across an
increasingly diverse set of touch-points in a relevant, precise manner
in order to simply meet their new expectations. Technology becomes an
enabler of business agility and innovation.”
To help make it easy for customers to find everything they need for
their business, the new business-to-business e-commerce site offers the
following features, and more:
Faster and easier search navigation with intuitive product
categorization to find products in as little as one or two clicks.
Alternative product recommendations designed to support customers'
internal programs such as sustainability and supplier diversity.
Faster access to previous orders and frequently purchased items on the
home page for quick re-order.
Enhanced site customization for individual customers with company
logos, employee messages and contracted product assortment and pricing.
“With multiple locations nationwide and a variety of different business
functions to support, we rely on Staples Advantage to make it easy for
all our employees to get the quality products and services they need to
do their jobs,” said Carol Velasquez, senior manager, procurement for
Macerich, a real estate investment trust which focuses on the
acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of
regional malls throughout the United States. “The new site achieves this
goal and with the breadth of available products we can support every
department within our organization, which helps us consolidate multiple
vendors and increase efficiency as a whole.”
Staples Advantage has a rich history of serving its business customers
online for more than a decade, including mid-sized businesses to more
than 65 percent of Fortune 100 companies across all industries. With
more than $6 billion in sales and 90 percent of its business done
online, Staples Advantage is a leader in business-to-business e-commerce.
An Array of Office Solutions from One Provider
As organizations look to increase savings and consolidate procurement
across multiple areas, Staples Advantage offers a full array of office
solutions for customers, including:
Staples
Facility Solutions, a wide assortment of janitorial, cleaning and
breakroom supplies.
Staples
Technology Solutions, a complete array of IT services and products.
Business
Interiors by Staples, a full-scale furniture and interior design
service.
Staples
Promotional Products, a full-service corporate branding, design
and creative marketing solution.
Staples
Print Solutions, a comprehensive print, label and package
management offering.
In addition to the new business-to-business e-commerce site, Staples
Advantage helps businesses discover how it can deliver much more than
office products to support customers' supplier consolidation goals and
find new opportunities for savings. Visitors to StaplesAdvantage.com can
download case studies, videos, and interactive product galleries. For
more information, visit www.StaplesAdvantage.com.
About Staples Advantage
Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SPLS), serves organizations of 20 or more employees up to the
Fortune 1000, including global businesses, local, state and federal
government, healthcare organizations and educational institutions. The
Staples Advantage one source solution includes comprehensive products
and services from office supplies, technology and printing to
promotional products, furniture and facility supplies. Dedicated to
providing organizations with greater cost savings and improved ordering
efficiencies, Staples Advantage provides a customized level of account
support and best-in-class customer service. More information is
available at http://www.staplesadvantage.com/.
About Staples
Staples is the world's largest office products company and a trusted
source for office solutions. The company provides products, services and
expertise in office supplies, copy & print, technology, facilities and
breakroom, and furniture. Staples invented the office superstore concept
in 1986 and now has annual sales of $25 billion, ranking second in the
world in eCommerce sales. With 90,000 associates worldwide, Staples
operates in 26 countries throughout North and South America, Europe,
Asia and Australia, making it easy for businesses of all sizes, and
consumers. The company is headquartered outside Boston. More information
about Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com/media.
Follow Staples on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/staples
and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/staples.
Staples, Inc.Nina Akerley, 508-253-1078Nina.Akerley@Staples.comorOwen
Davis, 508-253-8468Owen.Davis@Staples.com

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